Chilling (Spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (6 November 2003)

Very few movies have ever genuinely frightened me. "Natural Born Killers" was an exception, and "28 Days Later" is another. If anything, viewing it again recently on DVD had even more impact.
Maybe my having spent a lot of time in Britain had something to do with it. During the breathtaking opening scenes set in a seemingly deserted London, I kept picturing the situation that would have led to that. Seeing the main characters trying to survive and come to terms with what had happened, I kept imagining how I would behave in the same situation. Any film that can stir that kind of response has to be worth the price of admission.
The characterization is one of the main strengths of the movie, but there are others. Music is used sparingly, but effectively. The use of digital video gives the pictures a pleasingly gritty look, in tune with what we're seeing. Violence is not shied away from, but only portrayed as and when necessary - and is used by the good guys as well as the bad.
The original theatrical ending is a bit conventional; the alternative, provided on the DVD, is colder and more hopeless, but more effective. The 20-second time limit - once a person is infected with the rage virus, you have, at most, 20 seconds to kill them before they turn on you - might seem a bit arbitrary, but leads to two scenes of startling emotional impact. The second of these drew a unanimous cry of "Oh no!" from the audience in the theater where I first saw the movie.
Recommended then, but not for the squeamish. Rating: 8/10.